


Making A Meal Of Things

by ProfessorFlimflam



Category: Holby City
Genre: Berena Appreciation Week, Breakfast, Communication Failure, F/F, Fluff, Nairobi, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 17:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorFlimflam/pseuds/ProfessorFlimflam
Summary: Not content with sending Serena a picture of her breakfast, Bernie keeps sending pictures of food and drink throughout the day, but Serena can’t thinkwhy. Luckily for both of them, Donna is on hand to help Serena get the message.





	Making A Meal Of Things

Serena was already in a bad mood by the time Bernie sent her a photo of a full English breakfast via WhatsApp. Serena had no idea why she had sent it, and had expressed her frustration with the whole situation, citing Bernie's mysterious photo and her own email of the previous week which had consisted mainly of terse bullet points. 

The fry-up was followed up later in the day by a photo of a cup of coffee and a sweet roll, Bernie’s stethoscope visible at the edge of the picture. 

Serena felt her irritation rise at lunchtime, when her phone pinged for the umpteenth time that day, this time heralding a photograph of a flat bread stuffed with meat - lamb, perhaps? - and vegetables. It looked good in spite of the mystery meat, and her stomach growled. Clearly Bernie had plenty of time for an early lunch: judging by the state of the admissions boards, Serena would be lucky to manage a break at all today, and all these photos of food were not helping her frame of mind.

She had yet to respond to Bernie when the slightly blurred image of a cup of tea appeared unbidden on her phone as she waited in the queue in Pulses, and she almost threw the phone against the counter in irritation.

“What’s any of this supposed to _mean?_ ” She asked Donna, behind her in the queue. “First a fry up, then cake, a sandwich and now this.” She brandished the phone at the nurse. “It's not even a good picture! And never any explanation, any words to go with it. For all I know, she could be texting me by accident when she’s trying to put her order in at the canteen!”

“Have you asked her?” Donna ventured.

“Asked her what?” 

“Why she’s sending you pictures of food? Why she’s not sending any messages with them? Just ask her - you’ve been growling about it all day!”

Serena pulled her shoulders back and gave Donna a sharp look to remind her who she was talking to.

“I haven’t asked her anything because I haven't had time, in case you hadn’t noticed! Things have been rather busy around here today, and I haven’t got time to worry about a picture of a full Kenyan breakfast, or what Bernie’s having for lunch!”

Donna pointed an accusing finger at her. “Ah, but you _have_ been worrying about it, though, haven’t you? And you’ve found time to look at the photos and scratch your head about them, just not to reply.”

“What are you saying?” Serena asked defensively.

“I’m not saying anything, just - look. When Jared and I first got together and everything was all lovey dovey, we didn't always get to see much of each other - his training regime was pretty full on, especially when they were at training camp overseas. He used to keep his phone with him if he could and send me a quick text here and there, but sometimes all he had time for was literally just a photo of wherever he was, just to show he was thinking about me.”

Her fingers fretting at the pendant at her throat, Serena tilted her head. “Go on,” she said.

“Well - do you suppose Ms Wolfe is _less_ busy than an overpaid footballer? Do you think she’s got _more_ time than him during the day to send you long declarations of love? I reckon she’s just letting you know that you’re always on her mind, that’s all. I think it’s really sweet, actually.”

Serena hadn’t thought about it like that. “But why all the pictures of food? Why doesn't she send me a picture of the view out of the window, or a photo of herself?”

“A selfie? I don’t know. Is she camera shy?”

Serena shook her head. “Not especially - and she must know I like to see her lovely face!”

Donna shrugged. “Well, then - it’s a mystery. Unless it’s some little in joke that you’ve forgotten about? You haven’t asked her what the food’s like over there, nothing like that?”

“No, I don’t think - oh!” Serena interrupted herself with a sudden memory.

“What? What have you remembered?” Donna asked curiously.

Serena flushed a little, realising where the flood of photos had stemmed from.

“I sent her an email last week - I was in a bit of a strop and I just sent her a list of things to remember - birthday cards, bills, that sort of thing. The last thing on the list was ‘don’t forget to eat properly’ - she tends to run on caffeine and cigarettes when she’s pressed for time.”

“So she’s just letting you know that she’s looking after herself, just like you asked her to? You can't complain about that, can you?”

“No, I can’t,” Serena admitted sheepishly.

***

Five minutes later in a clinic in Nairobi, Bernie’s phone chimed, and she glanced at it quickly as she swept along the corridor between the ward and theatre. A great smile broke across her tired face as she saw the familiar paper cup with its plume of steam, and the flaky pain au chocolat. Even better was the brief accompanying message: _Been thinking about you all day, too. Love you x_


End file.
